Thaniya Road - Bangkok

If you cruise down Thaniya Road and you’re western then you will be completely off the radar when it comes to the working girls. This is where Japanese tourists dreams come true as everything is catered for them. Thaniya Road is located directly opposite Sala Daeng BTS Station and only a short walk from Patpong 1 & 2. For me it’s all a breath of fresh air being able to walk down a road full of working girls without the sounds of ‘welcome’ or ‘where you go?’

Since I’m not Japanese I observed from a distance how things are done here. I noticed a group of 6 Japanese guys having a chat with each other but where being interrupted on several occasions by some older Thai women (who looked pretty good) from the clubs, trying to get them into theirs. They did a good job ignoring their pestering. After a few minutes it was off to an upstairs Karaoke Bar for these guys, they where followed up by a group of women.

Thaniya Road

Out front the clubs you will find a group of women usually seated and dressed in various costumes from nurses, witches, bunnies & the list goes on. I watched as two guys entered one of the ground floor shop fronts and were followed in by the group of about 10 girls dressed as fairy's FFS. Once inside the women went and sat on a couple of large bench seats, the guys stood back and made there choice. I got a sense that this was a massage shop as I did hear the word soapy when I was nearby.

Some of the clubs are for members only. I don't think I fit their demographic, making them something I just ignore. I did notice that it’s mainly guys in suits that were heading to the private clubs for a bit Karaoke or whatever else goes on inside, not my scene.

Thaniya Road Women

It all looked a bit boring for the women on the seats who only sat up and put on an act when the Japanese clients / tourist wondered by. When a westerner walks past they just continue chatting with each other or just play on their phones. As you can see in the picture above there will be an older Thai lady keeping them all under control. She will also talk with anyone that looks remotely Japanese and try's to get them inside.

You do get a group of women that hang around 7/11 that I presume are freelancers. They’re also mainly on the look out for Japanese customers as I didn't see them show interest in any westerners.

One positive for westerners is if you’re into Japanese food well there are plenty of decent restaurants within Thaniya Road but they can be bit pricey. If you’re on a budget then just hit 7/11 or Food Mart. For me walking down Thaniya Road it’s all about getting a bite to eat, which is usually a couple ‘Sushi Hand Rolls’ on my way back to the Skytrain.

It was after 9 pm on a Wednesday by the time I headed to Patpong and noticed a completely different atmosphere from Thaniya Road. Now I was back on the radar and headed into the Pink Panther gogo bar for a drink. Here more than a few of the dancers dance in a way that you will only find at Patpong, you head on in thinking I’ll just watch a bit of dancing then go home alone, before you know it you’re are thinking, I want to get laid tonight. Now how is this possible you may ask? Well it’s more than erotic, very subtle but it’s there.

Cruising along Patpong 1 ignoring the guys trying to get every man & his dog to head up the stairs and into Super Pussy. I notice the Night Market is busy therefore expecting most the bars to be doing okay. Goldfingers was surprisingly quiet as was Superstars but their side bar was doing more trade than usual. I always get the ‘where you go?’ Question as I have had a few drinks with several of the bargirls.

Kings Castle 2 have a good selection of dancers seated out front and some hot women on the dance floor but they are quiet. The busiest bar within Patpong 1 tonight and in that fact all of Patpong is next door at Kings Castle 1. With such a large selection of dancers. I often wonder where they get them all from. This bar for me is cool if you just want to get in and barfine one of the dancers, no stuffing around here.

Next up is Patpong 2. Bada Bing is quiet which is becoming usual, Club Electric Blue had 3 times more the customers than Bada Bing, 9 so do the maths. Maybe they get busy later but all I know is that this time last year they had plenty of clientele at nearly 10 pm. I was about to head over to the Black Pagoda but looked down towards The Strip and noticed a dancer out front with an electric guitar. I got sidetracked since I hadn't been to check out The Strips ‘Rock n Roll’ night. The Strip is doing ok but is slightly behind the likes of Bada Bing & Club Electric Blue in regard to entertainment value.

Saturday Night I headed to Nana Plaza around 10:30 pm. One bar that is very popular is Straps (ladyboy bar). Being a smaller bar they really know how to pack them. The Four Bar still has a cardboard Rainbow 4 sign out front, I headed in briefly just to get a feel of the bar. Although they were busy (mainly Japanese) the atmosphere isn't the same as when they where located in the old Rainbow 4 slot.

Now to the surprise for the night. I headed up to the top floor of Nana Plaza and to Jail Birdz and they were busy. No wonder with the amount of hot dancers they have that it was only a matter of time before people caught on. With 2 large dance floors, women in cells and a tub with topless dancers, you really are spoilt for choice.

Next up is Billboard Agogo Bar and they’re packed. When I said they were packed in previous weeks well they weren’t this packed. Billboards is going from strength to strength and with the introduction of a show on the hour, they just get better. Lets see what would make a good show? Lesbians followed by some really sexy Thai chicks covered in baby oil, that will do the trick. You cant go wrong on the top floor of Nana Plaza, so head on up.

I then went to Bangkok Bunnies just to see if there was any improvement. They are still only using half the bar, the old Spellbound section. There would have been around 20 customers. Since this weeks column has been a bit about the demographics well inside Bangkok Bunnies tonight I would say mostly Arab followed by Indian descent.

I was only briefly at Soi Cowboy which looked fairly busy. I went inside Jungle Jim's for a drink and a cool down, since I had just walked from Nana Plaza. I headed to the end of the bar, which was a mistake since I should know what goes on down this end. I’m not with it yet (it’s so humid in Bangkok just now) until one of the older bargirls asks, can I move? She has some guy on tow. F….me I know what that means, there might be some tag team hand action going on any minute!!! So yeah I moved and never looked in their direction again.